2012-08-16 - Super Family Reunion
Kara Zor-El is sitting on the globe of the Daily Planet, having done some rounds to help Conner a little ever since he took over the whole 'Man of Steel' persona. Earlier she had been babysitting Lian for Roy while he was busy being unconscious in his bed. She considered the babysitting to be more taxing than the crimefighting, but she's also had more experience with babysitting. She munches on a bologna sandwich she made for herself back in San Francisco and leans over to take some of her secret stash of junk food, a cannister of Pringles potato chips. She looks around idly. It's been a busy day - 2 bank robberies, some minor supervillain calling himself Commander Video, who's theme had nothing to do with video whatsoever, a near-helicopter crash, and a schoolbus that went over a bridge when the brakes failed. She hopes to herself that things will be quiet long enough to just have the sandwich and potato chips. Having been back on the job for less than 24 hours, Clark had rescued a group of skiers in Switzerland, stopped a river from flooding a villiage in South Africa and managed to spend some quality time with Conner, which is why Kara hadn't had much help in the city today. Deciding to spends some time at his favorite perch, he decends slowly towards the large globe on top of the Daily Planet building. His nose detects food nearby and he finds Kara here having a bite to eat. He comments in his naturally deep voice. "Hello, Kara. Enjoying your meal?" He was back clad in the blue and red, the costume that had pretty much made him famous. "Mind if I join you?" Kara Zor-El looks up at her cousin. Been a while since she saw him in the uniform, ever since he quit to 'prove to her' that he cared more about her than the S. Not that it didnt make her feel even worse. So when he shows up back in uniform again, Kara's notably confused. "Um... uh.... yeah. Sure Kal. You're back in the uniform.... are you, yknow.... back?" She looks at her potato chips. She then adds, awkwardly, "Chip?" holding out the chips. Superman idly reaches and takes a chip out of the cardboard tube. "Thank you." He pops it into his mouth and chews. After swallowing, he nods. "I came back officially yesterday. I met with Conner and Diana at the Fortress to talk about it before coming back to the city." He exhales slowly, before crossing his arms over his chest. "I've actually been looking for you for the past hour or so. Just got back from San Francisco." The expression on his face is weird to read. "We need to talk." Kara Zor-El takes a bite of the sandwich, then hangs her head. She thinks about all the possible things he might be judgmental about with her. The breaking up with Solarflare maybe, the news of her going out with a human called Dedrick Jones, or maybe a re-hash of the whole 'S' thing from when she was dosed by red K, rao forbid. Yeah, she's become a little prone to thinking the worst possible scenario. She decides to just ask, "About what?" Superman moves to sit down on the edge of the building. He motions for her to join him as he says. "During the time I placed myself in seclusion, I came to a couple of decisions." He turns to face her. "I was such a jerk to you, Kara. I thought that I was trying to motivate you to be more like me. I blamed you for the whole Red K incident and it wasn't fair of me to do so." He turns to look down towards the street. "Sometimes I try so hard to live up to the ideal that everyone expects from me that I forget what it was like when I first revealed myself to the world. Kara, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I put you through, and I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you when you needed me the most." He murmurs, "I just hope that you'll find it in your heart to forgive me." Kara Zor-El floats down over to sit by Superman on the edge of the building. She looks surprised at first, then smiles a bit at the first apology she's gotten that didnt involve making her feel guilty. She blinks a few times at the unexpected thing he says to her. Then she gives her cousin a hug. "Thanks Kal." After a pause, she punches his shoulder. "But don't do that again though! Like... EVER!" Quick Kara, change the subject. "Um.... just so you know, full disclosure on things you might have missed. I broke up with Solarflare.... and I'm sorta kinda dating this guy called Dedrick Jones. He's human and not someone who's just going to go evil so.... yknow.... it's a step up." She then pats her lap, and tells the rest. "And I got a job as a waitress in San Francisco at this diner. And..... ." Superman turns to face Kara. His expression is stoic and the brow over his right eye raises slightly. He idly rubs his chin with a finger. "Let me get this straight. You broke up with Solarflare...can't argue with that one. He seemed a bit unstable to me. And you're dating another guy who's human...can't argue with that either, since I'm married to one." He raises a finger. "However, you have to be extra careful, Kara. If your enemies find out that you're seeing someone that they feel they can exploit to get to you..well..he could be in serious trouble." He hmms. "You got a job? That's good. I assume that you've settled on Kara Kent as an identity?" For the moment, he doesn't say anything about what she murmured under her breath. For the moment. Kara Zor-El shakes her head. "Actually.... I sorta havent decided on a secret identity still. Jim... he's the guy who owns the diner.... they're sort of just letting me work there as me." She then says, "But I've been thinking of a good secret identity. One that isnt like... connected to you. Because I keep thinking if my secret identity gets revealed I'd be endangering you as well so I thought of a couple of possibble names." She dangles her legs a little. "Okay well.... one is Claire Connors. I sorta like that name. The other possible name is Linda Lee. Because... um... I was doing some research in the Oracle files and I talked to Lana... and ... you know... the last person calling herself Supergirl was named Linda. I dunno why Lee. That was Lana's idea." Superman facepalms as she explains to him that she's working in a diner as herself. His facial muscles begin to twitch slightly, but he controls his breathing so that he can remain calm. He nods faintly. "So you don't want the name Kent. I undertand." He exhales slowly again and shrugs slightly. "Whatever you decide Kara." He asks timidly. "This human that you're seeing. Are you appearing in public as Supergirl when you're with him?" Kara Zor-El responds. "It's not that I don't -want- the Kent name... I mean... I feel like if I break my own secret identity, I'd be breaking yours. And Conner's too. I want to do something more like Karen does where she's not worrying about that. Or Diana. It's not because I don't want to be like... associated with you and your mom and dad." She then says, "No, I havent appeared in public with Dedrick as Supergirl. We've only even gone out on one date publicly. Most of the time we've just hung out at his place watching these shows called Star Trek. It's totally wrong on the science you know, but sorta fun to watch. I'd really like you to meet him some time. He's really... really, really nice." She adds, "Please don't melt him." she says with a kidding smile. Superman rises to his feet. "As long as you're happy, Kara." He half-smiles. "Diana is a diplomat. Her situation is a little different, but I get it. Just don't be disappointed when what you want doesn't work out the way you want it to." He sounds like speaks from experience. "Little piece of advice? You won't break your secret identity as long as you're careful. Undoubtedly there will be people that figure it out. Just hope that they are few and far between." When she asks him not to melt the human he grows quiet like he's actually thinking about it. "I won't melt him, but I want you to be careful that he's not with you just to exploit you in some way." Kara Zor-El leans her head on Kal's shoulder. "You know you're the third person to actually say that?" She smiles. "Trust me, he's not trying to exploit me. And advice noted. Besides, I'm due for some stuff going my way for a change, I'm figuring." She then perks up a bit. "Speaking of which.... about the million dollars, I need to explain why I did that even though Batman and Diana did that trust fund for me. I've been sort of feeling like I'm just glomming on other people. I wanted just a little independence financially. But don't worry, the thing I sold him only works on Kryptonians. It'll probably take a lot of years for it to be backward engineered for human beings, and Bru.... Batman seemed like he was not planning on making it public anyway." Superman murmurs, "And you provided Batman with something /else/ that works on us." He sighs. "Well, I guess there's no harm done. He's already got kryptonite. Doesn't get any worse than that." He places his arm around her shoulders. "Would you like some more free advice? If you feel like you're...um..glomming? Do what I did. Assume an identity, go to college, and get a job." He smirks. Kara Zor-El looks at Superman. "It's a healing device. It's not to hurt. I wouldnt give any weaponry anyway. It's to heal Kryptonians of illnesses. It's called a < sourcedoc > (something in Kryptonian). Everyone used to have one back on Krypton. I just didnt think it was necessary here since ...you know... with the yellow sun we have that healing thing even if something gets past the invulnerability stuff. And if he's able to make it work for humans that would help people on this planet so much." She smiels as he puts his arm around her shoulders. "That's the other thing. I want to go to college. Totally want to go to college. I've been watching all sorts of movies about it, and I was talking to Stephanie about it and it all sounds fun." She nods a bit, then asks, "I'm not sure I understand some aspects of it still though, like what's a keg party." Superman laughs. Hard. Once he calms down he says. "Movies probably aren't the best way to learn about the college experience. A keg party is where a bunch of students show up and drink beer out of a keg. They're wild, unsafe, and promote uh..other stuff that you shouldn't be doing at your age." He meant sex, but he couldn't just come right out and say it. "I've not introduced kryptonian tech to humans because I don't feel they're ready for it yet. But by the time Batman gets it working, maybe they will be." He pauses again. "Before you make any decision on what school you want to go to, check with me first, okay?" Kara Zor-El nods a little. "I was sort of thinking about Gotham University, or maybe SFU.... but I'm not sure I want to take a scholarship. It's unfair to others who probably really need it." She peers. "Where did you go to college anyway? They didnt have that sort of thing on Krypton. Not exactly. I mean... the Guilds are sort of like schools but it's different." Superman answers. "I went to the University of Metropolis. And you don't have to take a scholarship, though they offer it to people of high intelligence anyways, so you shouldn't feel bad if they offer you one. That's one talent you have that isn't related to a super power." He smiles. "Therefore it's not unfair to anyone else." Kara Zor-El nods a little. "It's still sorta unfair. I mean... Krypton was really far ahead of Earth in a lot of that stuff. So if I get a scholarship it's not like I'm stealing it from someone else who needs it more?" She nods again. "What do you think about where I should go?" Superman shrugs. "It's not unfair. It's no different that a student who's family has the resources to make sure they learn everything they need to. You keep believing that just because you're from another planet that you don't deserve the same things that everyone else on the planet does. That simply isn't so." He exhales again at her last question. "Well, when I was choosing what school I wanted to go to, Mom and Dad simply told me it was my decision and that they'd support whatever I decided. Whether I went to school locally or abroad. Of course, I could have gone to any school on the planet, but I wanted to go here." He offers a smile. "You go where it feels right." Kara Zor-El looks over at you and changes subject again. "So.... how's your first day back been? Any saving of the world things been happening?" She then takes a bite of her sandwich again, having forgotten to during this whole really nice talk :) Superman nods faintly. "The usual. Saved a group of skiers in Switzerland from an avalance. And re-routed a river in South Africa. Normal stuff." He looks at her, "What about you? Anything new other than the stuff you've already told me? Kara Zor-El hrms and scratches her head. "Hmmmm, well... oh... I bought Conner a car. And he said he'll let me drive it in a parking lot to learn how to use it as well." Which brings up all sorts of problems with the fact that Conner's technically 5 years old, and is going to teach Kara, who's barely 17, how to drive. Superman frowns a little. "You..bought Conner a car." He opens his mouth to say something and then closes it. Then he asks. "Does Conner have a license?" He scraches his chin. "Does he even know how to drive? Perhaps I should give both of you a lesson. Make sure you know how to drive safely." Kara Zor-El nods a little. "I wanted to do something nice for him because he was all stressed about the whole... you know... Superman thing." She tilts her head. "I think he has a license. At least as Conner Kent. He's really good at haggling with the car salesman - that I know. I had no idea you can offer a different price." She smiles brightly. "Would you? That would be so great if you could! First thing I'm going to do once I get my secret identity is I'm getting a learners permit." Superman offers Kara another smile. "Sure I could. I mean, what kind of a cousin would I be if I didn't teach you how to drive? I know you want to be more independant, but if you need anything you let me know, okay?" Conner had already roped him into a scheme to create a charity so he could fund his own college experience. Something about a Superboy toy line. Go figure. Kara Zor-El gives Superman another hug. "I'm really happy we're not fighting anymore. It was really making me feel sick thinking I made you stop being Superman. Not to mention all the junk Cat keeps writing her articles about it." She looks down at the Daily Planet and sticks out her tongue at Cat on the 34th floor, who obviously can't see her without X-ray vision. Superman smiles. "Cat Grant is allowed to think and believe what she wishes. Besides, she's probably just upset that Lois and I outscoop her on a daily basis." He turns towards her and hugs her fully before releasing her. "I'm happy as well. Now, speaking of Lois, I should probably get going. I'm supposed to meet her for lunch." Kara Zor-El nods. "And I need to head back to San Francisco. I promised Roy and Lian that I'd get Jim to make his special omelettes for Lian. She's so adorable." Superman nods as he floats in the air. "Tell Roy and Lian that I said hello. And take care of yourself." And within the next second, he's gone in a blur of red and blue.